Working with sections

Commands: SECTION, SECTIONPLANE, LIVESECTION, SECTIONPLANESETTINGS, SECTIONPLANETOBLOCK.

The Section command creates section planes of 3D solids; the results are region entities.

The SectionPlane command creates a section entity that creates sections of 3D solids, surfaces, and meshes.

The LiveSection command toggles the Live Section property of a section plane.

The SectionPlaneSettings command defines the properties of a section plane entity in the Drawing Explorer - Section Planes dialog.

The SectionPlaneToBlock command saves the selected section plane to a 2D cross section / elevation block or a 3D cutaway section block.

To launch the Sectionplane command

Do one of the following:

• Click the Section Plane tool button () on the Sections toolbar.

• Choose Sections > Section Plane in the Model menu.

• Type sectionplane in the command bar.

You are prompted: Specify start point or [select Face/Draw/Orthographic]:

Align a section plane to a face

1. Launch SectionPlane command.

2. Choose Select Face in the prompt menu or type F in the command bar.
   You are prompted: Select entity:

3. Select the face of a solid you want to align the section plane to.

   Solid	Select face	Section plane aligned to face

   The section plane is aligned to the selected face. The Clip Display property of the section entity is switched on automatically.

4. (option) Edit the properties of the section plane.

    

To create a vertical section plane

1. Make sure the WCS is the current coordinate system.

2. Launch SectionPlane command.

3. Specify two points.
   The section plane is created through these points and perpendicular to the XY-plane of the current coordinate system.
   The part of the solid at the right hand side of the section plane is cut away.
   The Clip Display property of the section entity is switched on automatically.

   Specify two points	Vertical section plane

4. (option) Edit the properties of the section plane.

To create a horizontal section plane

1. Choose Front in the Look From widget.

   

2. Align the UCS to the front view:
   Type ucs at the command prompt, choose the View option in the prompt menu or type V in the command bar.
   If UCSORTH0 = ON, the UCS is aligned with the view automatically.

3. Launch SectionPlane command.

4. Specify two points.
   The section plane is created through these points and perpendicular to the XY-plane of the current coordinate system.
   The part of the solid at the right hand side of the section plane is cut away.
   The Clip Display property of the section entity is switched on automatically.

   Specify two points	The part of the solid at the right hand side of the section plane is cut away.	Horizontal section plane

5. (option) Edit the properties of the section plane.

To create a vertical jogged section plane

1. Make sure the WCS is the current coordinate system.

2. Launch SectionPlane command.

3. Choose Draw in the prompt menu or type D in the command bar.
   You are prompted: Specify start point:

4. Specify the first point (1).
   You are prompted: Specify next point:

5. Specify the second point (2):
   You are prompted: Specify next point or ENTER to finish:

6. Specify the other points (3 - 6), the right click or press Enter to stop.
   You are prompted: Specify the direction of the section entity:

7. Click a point (7) to specify the direction of the section entity.
   The part of the solid opposite to the direction of the section entity is cut away.
   The Clip Display property of the section entity is switched on automatically.

   Specify points	The part of the solid opposite to the direction of the section entity is cut away.	Vertical jogged section plane

8. (option) Edit the properties of the section plane.

To create a horizontal jogged section plane

1. Choose Front in the Look From toolbar.

   

2. Align the UCS to the front view:
   Type ucs at the command prompt, choose the View option in the prompt menu or type V in the command bar.
   If UCSORTH0 = ON, the UCS is aligned with the view automatically.

3. Launch SectionPlane command.

4. Choose Draw in the prompt menu or type D in the command bar.
   You are prompted: Specify start point:

5. Specify the first point (1).
   You are prompted: Specify next point:

6. Specify the second point (2).
   You are prompted: Specify next point or ENTER to finish:

7. Specify the other points (3 - 6) , the right click or press Enter to stop.
   You are prompted: Specify the direction of the section entity:

8. Click a point (7) to specify the direction of the section entity.
   The part of the solid opposite to the direction of the section entity is cut away.
   The Clip Display property of the section entity is switched on automatically.
   The section plane gets the Boundary state.

   Specify points	The part of the solid opposite to the direction of the section entity is cut away.	Horizontal jogged section plane

9. (option) Edit the properties of the section plane.

To create an orthographic section plane

1. Make sure the WCS is the current coordinate system.

2. Launch SectionPlane command.

3. Choose Orthographic in the prompt menu or type O in the command bar.
   You are prompted: Align section to [Front/bAck/Top/Bottom/Left/Right] <Top>:

4. Pick the orthographic section orientation of your choice in the prompt menu or type the corresponding option in the command bar.
   Orthographic section planes are created through the center of the solid, parallel to the XY-plane (Top and Bottom), YZ-plane (Left and Right) or XZ-plane (Front and Back) of the current coordinate system.
   The Clip Display property of the section entity is switched on automatically.

   Top	Front	Right

5. (option) Edit the properties of the section plane.

To open the Drawing Explorer - Section Planes dialog

Do one of the following:

• Choose Drawing Explorer > Section Planes in the Tools menu.

• Choose Sections > Section Plane Settings... in the Model menu.

• Type sectionplanesettings in the command bar, then press Enter.

Editing the properties of a section plane

Double click the section entity in the model to toggle its Clip Display property.

To edit the properties of a section plane in the Drawing Explorer

1. Open the Drawing Explorer - Section Planes dialog.

   

2. (option) Click the Section Plane Name field, then click again to type a new name.

3. (option) Click the Live Section check box of a section plane to toggle the Live Section property of the section plane.

4. If necessary, click the Regen tool button () in the Details toolbar to update the display.

5. (option) Click the State field of a section plane to choose a different state for the section plane.

   

6. (option) click the Plane Transparency field of a section plane to change the transparency of the section plane entity in the drawing.
   0 = Opaque, 100 = Transparent (invisible).

7. (option) Click the Plane Color field, then choose a new color in the Select Color dialog.

To edit the properties of a section plane in the properties bar:

Select the section entity in the drawing.

• Name: allows to rename the section entity.

• State: click, then select Plane, Boundary or Volume.

• Live Section: click, then select Yes or No.

• Clip display: click, then select Yes or No.

• Use lids: click, then select Yes or No.

• Plane transparency: allows to define the transparency of the section plane.

• Plane color: allows to define the color of the section plane.

Difference between Live Section and Clip Display

In both statuses all drawing content is sectioned and clipped-away parts are no longer displayed.

Live status: entities in a drawing are temporarily modified, e.g. clipped solids are replaced by temporary solids with a different shape.

Clip Display status: the display of entities is clipped. As in the AutoCAD 3DCLIP command, entities are not replaced by temporary versions. Different from the Live status, the Clip Display status allows to continue using all modeling and editing operations on all drawing content. While the 3DCLIP command allows to clip the display by a Front and a Back plane, it is not very useful because these planes must be reset whenever the view direction changes. Using a Section entity to control which part of a model is displayed, makes it easy to store and repeat display states. Besides the Plane state, which typically clips a model in two halves, also the Boundary and Volume state of section entity can be used.

As opposed to the Live status, the Clip Display status can be set for multiple section entities simultaneously. Clipped solids can optionally be closed by setting the Use Lids option. Although it has been made possible to snap to the geometry of these lids, they are not actually added to the drawing. If enabled, the hatch pattern defined in the 2dSection Intersection Fill settings of the section entity displays on top of the lids.

To set the Live Section property of a section plane:

• Use the LiveSection command.

• Set the Live Section field in the Properties bar

• Use the Drawing Explorer - Section Planes dialog.

  

To modify the size and position of a section plane

1. Select the section plane entity in the drawing.
   Depending on the current state of the section plane entity a number of grips display.

2. (option) Switch on the Clip Display property of the section plane to see the result of the modifications dynamically.

3. (option) To grip edit a Plane state section plane entity:

   
   Four grips display.
   
   • 1 () = origin point: moves the position of the section plane in the XY-plane.
   • 2 () = through point: redefines the through point of the section plane.
     The section plane is rotated around the origin point (1).
   • 3 () = midpoint: moves the section plane parallel in a direction perpendicular to the section plane.
   • 4 (): click to flip the view direction of the section plane.

4. (option) To grip edit a Boundary state section plane entity:

   
   Ten grips display.
   
   • 1 () = origin point: moves the position of the section plane in the XY-plane.
   • 2 () = through point: redefines the through point of the section plane.
     The section plane boundary is stretched and rotated around the origin point (1).
   • 3 (): stretches the section plane boundary parallel.
   • 4 (): modifies the shape of the section plane boundary.
   • 5 (): click to flip the view direction of the section plane.

5. (option) To grip edit a Volume state section plane entity:

   
   Twelve grips display.
   • 1 () = origin point: moves the position of the section plane in the XY-plane.
   • 2 () = through point: redefines the through point of the section plane.
     The section plane volume is stretched and rotated around the origin point (1).
   • 3 () :stretches the section plane volume parallel.
   • 4 (): modifies the shape of the section plane volume.
   • 5 (): modifies the height of the section plane volume.
   • Polar Tracking must be on to move grips 5.
     
     
   • 6 (): click to flip the view direction of the section plane.

To save a section

SectionPlaneToBlock command allows you to:

• Insert a section in the drawing as a 2D section / elevation block or a 3D cutaway block.

• Replace a section block (e.g. when the section entity has been modified).

• Save a section to a new drawing.

To launch SectionPlaneToBlock command

Do one of the following:

• Click the Section Plane to Block tool button () on the Sections toolbar.

• Choose Section Plane to Block in the Model > Sections menu.

• Type sectionplanetoblock in the command bar, then press Enter

The Create Section/Elevation dialog box displays:

To insert a section as a 2D block

1. (option) Adjust the 2D Section / Elevation settings of the section plane entity.

2. Launch SectionPlaneToBlock command.

3. Set the Destination to Insert new block.

4. Under Source Geometry, do one of the following:

   • Choose Include all entities to include all 3D solids in the drawing.
   • Choose Select entities, then click the Select button () to select 3D solids.

5. Under Section plane, click the Select button (), then select a section plane entity in the drawing.

6. Set the Section type to 2D cross section/elevation.

7. Adjust the Insert options (see Insert a block).

8. Click the OK button.
   The Create Section/Elevation dialog closes.
   The block is attached to the cursor.
   Follow the instructions in the command bar to place the block in the drawing.

To insert a section as a 3D block

1. (option) Adjust the 3D cutaway section settings of the section plane entity.

2. Launch SectionPlaneToBlock command.

3. Set the Destination to Insert new block.

4. Under Source Geometry, do one of the following:

   • Choose Include all entities to include all 3D solids in the drawing.
   • Choose Select entities, then click the Select button () to select 3D solids.

5. Under Section plane, click the Select button (), then select a section plane entity in the drawing.

6. Set the Section type to 3D cutaway section.

7. Adjust the Insert options (see Insert a block).

8. Click the OK button.
   The Create Section/Elevation dialog closes.
   The block is attached to the cursor.
   Follow the instructions in the command bar to place the block in the drawing.

To replace an existing block

1. Launch SectionPlaneToBlock command.

2. Set the Destination to Replace existing block.

3. Click the Select button (), then select the block to be replaced in the drawing.

4. Under Source Geometry, do one of the following:

   • Choose Include all entities to include all 3D solids in the drawing.
   • Choose Select entities, then click the Select button () to select 3D solids.

5. Under Section plane, click the Select button (), then select a section plane entity in the drawing.

6. Under Section type, do one of the following:

   • Choose 2D cross section/elevation , to replace the block by a 2D section / elevation block.
   • Choose 3D cutaway section, to replace the block by a 3D cutaway section block.

7. Click the OK button.
   The selected block is replaced.

To export a section to a file

1. Launch SectionPlaneToBlock command.

2. Set the Destination to Export to file.

3. Click the Browse button (), then do the following in the Select export file dialog box:

   • Select a folder.
   • Type a name in the File name field.
   • Click the Save button.

4. Under Source Geometry, do one of the following:

   • Choose Include all entities to include all 3D solids in the drawing.
   • Choose Select entities, then click the Select button () to select 3D solids.

5. Under Section plane, click the Select button (), then select a section plane entity in the drawing.

6. Under Section type, do one of the following:

   • Choose 2D cross section/elevation , to replace the block by a 2D section / elevation block.
   • Choose 3D cutaway section . to replace the block by a 3D cutaway section block.

7. Click the OK button.
   A section is saved to a drawing.